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Few people will be surprised by the revelation that smoking is bad for you. But what happens if you add smoking and the silent killer that is diabetes together? Does smoking increase blood sugar? The answer, according to research, is "yes". In fact, it’s a recipe for disaster. Not only is smoking dangerous for those who already have been diagnosed with diabetes, it's also a danger for those simply at risk of developing the disease.

According to the latest Centers for Disease Control figures 7.8% of Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. And, some 46 million adult Americans smoke --that's 20.6% of all adults. What is the impact of smoking on blood sugar?

The effect of nicotine on blood sugar have been known since the 1930’s. A study conducted by Dr. William J. McCormick published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 1936 discussed how cigarettes raise blood sugar. In his research he found that the blood sugar would return to normal within 30 minutes after smoking the cigarette.

Smoking causes hyperglycemia --extremely high blood sugar --- which happens when the way your body processes insulin is interfered with, causing a rise in blood sugar. This is the effect that we saw the evidence for above. This is also known as insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance occurs when your body does not absorb insulin properly and, to compensate, your blood sugar rises. In pre-diabetes, your blood sugar level does not rise as high as diabetes levels but as the name suggests you are on your way to diabetes if the situation gets worse.

Smoking can raise your blood sugar 15% in just 30 minutes. In 1966 researchers at Murchison and Fyfe of Western Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland found that an increase of blood glucose levels from 4.21 mmol/L (75.8 mg/dl) to 4.93 mmol/L (88.8 mg/dl) occurred within 30 minutes of smoking a cigarette -- an increase of 12 points.

The news gets even worse. A second study 20 years after the first one found an even more dramatic effect of smoking on blood sugar. In 1986, a study led by Arvind T. Modak at the Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio in 1986 found that 2.5 mg of nicotine increased blood glucose levels by 29%.

Since the average cigarette contains 1 mg of nicotine, this means that smoking just 2 to 3 cigarettes a day can spike your blood sugar by 29%.

In addition to this effect on your blood sugar, research shows that there is another very serious effect that smoking has on diabetics and those who are at risk of developing the disease. The research detailed below shows that smoking when you have diabetes can lead to a worsening of other conditions that are associated with diabetes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, people with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from heart failure or stroke.

A 1986 study completed at the Department of Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition, WHO Collaborating Center for Diabetes at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany compared 192 smokers with type 1 diabetes with 192 non-smokers who also had type 1 diabetes. They found that smoking was related to the early onset of problems related with diabetes. In particular, smoking was linked to heart problems, kidney problems and eye damage.

Dr. James O. Menzoian of Boston University Medical School in 1989 studied 227 diabetes patients. This research team found that those who smoked were more likely to get gangrene or ulcers.

Can you reverse your risks for developing diabetes, heart trouble and the other health problems if you stop smoking? A study by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK published in 1997 looked specifics of how quitting smoking can reduce the risks mentioned above. They studied a total of 4,427 people with diabetes. Those who had quit smoking in the previous 10 years were at a higher risk than those who had no smoked in over 10 years. And those who had been smoking for 30 years or longer when they quit were at a significantly higher risk.

A 2001 study led by Laura J. Scott of the Havard School of Public Health discovered that smokers are at a significantly greater risk for hypergylcemia than non-smokers. In addition, the smokers increased their risk for kidney damage, also known as debetic nephropathy.

The final word on this issue stems from a 2003 study conducted by Björn Eliasson of the Lundberg Laboratory for Diabetes Research, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. That study discovered that people with diabetes were 50% more at risk from the effects of smoking.

Smoking Is Dangerous Even for Those Simply At Risk for Diabetes

There also seems to be a danger for those who are simply at risk for developing diabetes. A study conducted on mice by the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California in 2009 looked at how nicotine effects insulin production. They injected the mice with nicotine twice daily and found that they had increased levels of the stress hormone cortical which is known to cause insulin resistance--also known as pre-diabetes. Of course this research was done on mice and not humans, so further work is necessary before we can state with assurance how much smoking puts you at ris for developing diabetes.

In summary, here are the facts. If you are already diabetic, smoking can spike your blood sugar by as much as 29%. Even as few as 1 or 2 cigarettes can drive your blood sugar sky high. Now, over time, the higher levels of sugar in your blood puts you at risk for other conditions related such as heart disease and stroke.

[Update:

Smoking Increases the Risk of Eye Damage in Diabetics

Diabetes can cause eye damage, called diabetic retinopathy. This eye condition is marked by the build up of oxidative stress. As a result, diabetics tend to have far more of the compounds scientists use to measure oxidative stress --reactive oxidative metabolites.

Smoking makes the eye damage worse by reducing helpful anti-oxidants in your blood stream which otherwise would be available to combat retinopathy, according to a 2012 study from Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital in Koshigaya, Japan. ]

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